#DigitalRomance: Love Knows No Distance

I can tell you one thing about me: I never get sick of hearing love stories. I cannot get enough of listening to how people met their significant other or how the proposal happened. So, I asked Renderosity member belladzines3d (Sharyn Yee) how where/how she met her husband.

Where did you meet your husband?

My husband and I met through Artzone, a site that daz3d owned then closed down. He messaged me about my artwork asking me some silly question on how to do something, and I almost deleted the message. But I had 2nd thoughts and emailed him back a week later and we became email "penpals" in July 2006.

How did you establish a relationship via World of Warcraft?

He introduced me to World of Warcraft and we were trying to do things together while online dating and gaming was one of them. Our time zones were the opposite of one another so it was a bit hard to establish a "time" to get together and play.

How did you feel about establishing a relationship online?

That's how my life rolled. I did a lot of online dating - dating sites. I worked crazy hours--still do-- but I was at work at 7am and there till 10pm at night, so I didn't have time to go out.

So, establishing a relationship online was the norm for me but the fact that he was overseas just made it unreal.

Did you live in the same state when you met?

No, I lived in Australia and he lived in the United States and we dated online for 6 months before meeting up in Hawaii in January 2007, for a week's holiday. That's where he proposed and we got engaged. When I got home back to Australia, I started the visa paperwork to move to the United States. Yes, I gave up everything to move and be with him.

Why did you give up everything to move in with him?

He already owned a house and I rented, and he had a good job. I was going to leave my job sooner or later because of stress levels so it just made sense.

How did you feel when you met him face-to-face?

It was a bit apprehensive at first, butterflies, the whole shebang ... but we had so much fun on that holiday and he even took me to Starbucks to play World of Warcraft because I was almost at level 70 with my Night Elf Druid.

What was it about him that drew you in?

His charm or personality, from day one that he met me he took care of me. Putting my needs before his own.

How long were you dating and how did he ask you to be his girlfriend?

He didn't quite ask me to be his girlfriend, when we met online it was just assumed that's where we were heading. I made him or as he says I tricked him into confessing his feelings for me before I did and once we did, we were a couple.

We online dated for 6 months before Hawaii, and then in November 2007, I moved to the US because my visa was granted and we got married in December 2007. Since then we've had 2 kids and are still happily married and we moved back to Australia to live in September 2014.

Why did you move back to Australia?

We were going to move here sooner or later, but the fact that my mom had been battling cancer on and off for 15 years and she had lung cancer this time made us want to move sooner, so she could spend time with her grandkids and we could take care of her. My mom died 6 weeks ago, losing the battle to cancer but I'm glad she had time to be with her grandkids for the last year.

How did he propose to you?

We were in our hotel room when he told me he had to go do an errand and then he came back 45 minutes later and got down on one knee and proposed.

When did you get married?

Due to immigration laws, we had to get married pretty much straight away, as soon as I got on US soil, so we got married in December 2007.